Legacy of a Deserter
by Rudy Ska
Summary: The land of Ikana is filled with death and despair. But why is it like that? Who opened the ancient stone tower temple doors and let loose an evil that plagued all of Termina? When did the kingdom of Ikana fall and most importantly... Who is King Igos du Ikana?
1. Chapter 1

Legacy of a Deserter

The Rise and Fall of King Igos du Ikana

Chapter 1: Treason

"The High Royal Court of Hyrule will now commence the sentencing of General Igos Ikana of his majesties Royal Guard. The General is being tried for treason, desertion, and the abandonment of a royal regiment without leave in the heat of battle. Presiding is King Johannes Libra Hyrule and queen Zelda of the Hylian Royal Family. Bring the prisoner forward!"

General Igos, humiliated in front of his people, was escorted through the huge wooden doors of the courtroom by four guards, two at his sides and two behind him. The man stood a little over seven feet and towered over his entourage and the witness stands. Being stripped of title and rank, Igos walked with crude leather sandals and grey tattered prison garb instead of his elaborate polished armor. But even so, Igos held his head high and walked with purpose and authority as if the trial was a farce. He had very short red hair on top of his head, a characteristic of the military, and his impressive chin had a slight stubble from his two nights in prison before the hearing. When they approached the end of the long hall lined with people, the General and his escort stopped before a two-step high stage that held two differently sized but beautifully crafted chairs together in the center of it with a small round table on either side of each. On the back cushion of each chair there was a bird with outstretched wings holding a triforce between them.

"The King and Queen of Hyrule!" the orator walked off the stage and all the witnesses behind Igos turned away from the middle hallway to face the two chairs as the pair walked up to them. The King was robust for his age, neither fat nor muscly, and had the beginnings of white hair peppering his head. He was cloaked in fine royal garb colored red and blue with gold insignias and symbols glinting with the light that came from the windows. The Queen tailed behind him wearing a slim pink royal gown sprinkled with gold embroidery that rippled as she walked like flowing water. In her arms was a bundle of white cloth and from it two pudgy arms continuously played with the Queen's gold necklaces. She walked with her head held high, as did her husband, but her eyes every so often would glance at the child with a motherly love and a longing to coo and play. After they had reached their chairs and turned to face Igos, the King in the bigger left and the Queen in the smaller right, King Johannes nodded to the right where they came from and a white-haired lady in purple and silver armor walked up to the Queen. She accepted the bundle of linen as if cradling a glass figurine and, after she had walked off the platform back into the castle, the remaining members of the royal family sat in their respective seats. When the two had settled into their chairs the congregation also sat in their chairs facing the monarchs with the exception to Igos as he had no chair to sit in.

"General Igos Ikana," the King's voice boomed through the courtroom though there was pain behind the words, "you know the crimes charged against you. Do you have anything to say before we commence the trial?"

Igos inhaled deeply and, in a booming voice that rivaled the King's, he spoke "For 20 years I have devoted my entire existence to the defense and safety of this kingdom. I have proven myself on and off the battlefield to be a capable leader and soldier. Everyone has seen my aptitude and everyone had seen my devotion firsthand. So I throw myself at the mercy of the people of Hyrule, the royal court, and my friend King Johannes Hyrule so that I may be tried justly and that justice may be dispensed."

"Very well then. General Ikana, How do you plead?"

"I am as innocent as the congregation."

"Are you prepared to prove your innocence to the court?"

"Yes your highness." The King waved him on and Igos continued, "Five years ago I was promoted in the field to acting general of the royal reserve troops. A month ago those troops were deployed as the last line of defense against the advancing Gerudo army. The fourth battalion of the reserve troops was posted on the western front nearest the Gerudo stronghold and I was given explicit instructions to ride with them. The third, second, and first battalions were posted at the eastern, southeastern, and northeastern respectively to hold off the other invading waves. We were attacked at night, taken by surprise by the cowards, but when we woke we fought hard and valiantly. I then received a royal decree from a courier that the southeastern front needed my direction and I placed lieutenant Dorn in charge in my leave. However when I reached the southeastern front the soldiers were still at the ready without a single Gerudo to be seen. Looking to the east I saw the first battalion fall to the group that was supposed to hit the second and I rallied the men to head them off before they reached the midway between the castle and the ranch. I then raced back to the fourth to find that none had survived the onslaught and rallied the third battalion to head them off. Their tactics sadly worked and they herded us into a massive kill zone and slaughtered us like pigs. I fought them long and hard but they eventually overwhelmed me and took me prisoner. They held me captive for three weeks until I finally escaped. I took lodging in a nearby inn in Kakariko Village where I was finally found by the royal guard."

The king leaned towards his wife who did the same and they exchanged whispered words before sitting up straight again.

"If that is your testimony, we will begin. Read the first charge!"

The entire congregation behind Igos responded in unison, "Desertion, your highness."

"General Igos, in your testimony you state that you were imprisoned by the Gerudo forces. If this is true, where is your mark?"

Igos for the first time flashed a slight bit of nervousness from his eyes. "I… I don't have one, your highness."

Whispers and diluted concerns polluted the air making it hard to breath for Igos who tugged on his collar.

"Order, order." The King spoke above the hissing voices, "Why, general?"

"I… cannot say for certain. I can only speculate that given the battle they were waging it simply slipped their minds or… that I escaped before they could."

The King stroked his short goatee in thought.

"It is strange that any prisoner we have retrieved, whether by release, escape, or as a corpse, all have the same mark on their shoulders indeterminate of their time spent in enemy custody. The mark of the Gerudo."

Igos felt sweat bead on the back of his neck as the King continued, "In fact, I don't believe you spent time in the Gerudo camps at all. You have no traces of torture and in three weeks the inability to harm you in any way seems unlikely at best." The King faced to a guard to his right, "Bring in the first witness."

The giant doors that Igos had been ushered through now opened for a short lady to walk down the isle of people escorted by two guards to each side of her. Igos remembered her name as Mena, the lady who ran the small cottage inn in Kakariko Village. Being in her late 20s she had inherited the inn when her father passed nearly six years ago and has been running it ever since. She had begun to lose her figure since then and her cheeks were a bit gaunter and her frame had a bit more ply each time he saw her. At first she looked absolutely confused as to why she was being brought into the high court but also abased at the halls intricate design and atmosphere. The second her eyes fell upon the shackled and guarded Igos her eyes went wide and she gasped in shock. As she walked closer and then past him, her expression of disbelief for a second before she turned away from him was replaced by a deep sorrow that Igos only saw a glimpse of. The orator walked up to Mena and made her hold one hand on her heart.

"Lady Mena," the orator had repeated this line many times before, "do you swear to tell the truth as best ye know it? To aid in the acquisition of justice and not in its obstruction? And to respect the verdict of this court as law?"

The woman swallowed the lump in her throat, "I do, sir."

The orator bowed to Mena, then to the King and Queen, and then walked back to his seat in front of the people. The King nodded to a guard standing off to his right who walked over, handed the king some papers, and walked back after saluting. The King sifted through the papers and when he found the one he wanted he paused for a moment to read the contents. When he finished he lifted his eyes to meet Mena's.

"Lady Mena, you claim sole ownership of the Kakariko Inn?"

"Y-yes your highness." She nodded.

"How many customers do you service throughout the year?"

"Well we are not a very large inn my lord. We have four beds and an extra that I use myself. That and the fact that Kakariko is so off the beaten path makes customers quite scarce. We are lucky to see two or three lodgers a year. Not including special occasions like the princess' birth."

"But as I understand, during the Gerudo war you helped injured soldiers as a temporary medical outpost. How many soldiers did you tend to?"

"I don't have the exact number in front of me but I believe it was… a bit under 300."

"Was this man" he motioned to Igos behind her, " one of those soldiers?"

"Not a soldier, no." Mena immediately stopped herself with a slight gasp but it was too late. Igos behind her closed his eyes and slightly shook his head realizing it was foolish to think he could've trusted the innkeeper to testify the way he wanted her to.

"Not a soldier?" the King asked her skeptically.

Mena began to trip over her words trying to cover her slip-up, "N-no what I meant was that… you see, we needed help towards the end of the wars and, and there were so many volunteers that there was no way I could possibly keep track of all of them and, and I guess maybe one looked liked him there's no way I could possibly be able to remember if any one person especially if-"

"Lady Mena." The King cut her off, "Do you know this man?"

Mena sighed in defeat, "Yes, your highness. He came to the inn after the soldiers had left for the castle infirmaries. He said he was one of the volunteers and with so many of them we didn't bother to question it. He stayed until the guards came looking for him."

"Thank you Lady Mena, you may take your le-"

"He isn't a bad man!" Mena blurted out through tears, "He helped every day and was very polite and never-"

"Lady Mena! Your leave." The King motioned towards the door.

Mena wiped the tears from her cheeks, curtsied to the King, and as she passed Igos she mouthed the words "I'm sorry" before disappearing behind the great wooden doors.

"Read the second charge." The King called to the people to which they responded, "Abandonment, your highness."

"Bring in the final witness."

The giant doors opened again but this time a man dressed in bright red and blue formal clothes clad with medals and commemorative patches walked down the aisle. The man had two battle scars, one through the right side of his lips and another around the outside of his left eye, but the most prominent was the absence of a right arm. His shirt's right sleeve had been sewn together at the shoulder where his arm was removed and his black short hair was parted on the same side by a scar that ran above his ear that Igos saw as he passed. Igos was frozen in shock as his second-in-command seemed to ignore his former commanding officer's existence.

"Lieutenant Dorn. Thank you for coming."

The handicapped man saluted with his one good arm and when the King nodded he took an at-ease stance with his arm across his back.

"It is an honor my king." The lieutenants voice was deep and gravely.

"General Igos has stated that when he had received a decree to leave the fourth battalion he placed you in charge of the troops in his leave. Do you have testimony against that?"

"I do your majesty." The man cleared his throat before continuing, "I was placed under the command of General Igos Ikana in the fourth battalion of the royal reserve army. I was posted on the western flank and it was the first flank to be hit by the Gerudo. Thinking them too smart for a frontline assault, we had poured our more experienced men into the other battalions leaving the fourth with rookies and inexperienced soldiers. The Gerudo attacked at night and when we began to lose I turned to the General for advice. The General had fled his post at the first sign of loss and left his troops to die." The crowd began to talk openly now and some even raised their voices, "So I took up the leading role myself and I alone rallied the troops in the effort to drive back their invasion. This man did nothing but flee. He has committed high treason and must be found guilty!"

The room filled with accusations and talking as the passionate soldier made his final statement. Igos caught him glaring at Igos from the corner of his eye and all he could see in the lieutenant's eyes was pure hatred.

"Silence." The King boomed and the crowd calmed back to stillness. "Thank you Dorn for your testimony. We will deliver our sentencing after the final charge is announced. You may take your leave."

The lieutenant sighed away his emotion and, after saluting the king, walked back down through the doors without giving Igos so much as a glimpse.

"Read the final charge." The King said after the doors had closed.

"Treason, your highness!" the people said more passionately than they did the other two.

"General Igos, in your testimony you state that you received a royal decree for your presence at the southwestern front through a courier. I have with me the very same decree that you say you received." The King sifted through the papers in his hand and stopped when he reached a letter with a broken wax seal and a red ribbon that ran down the length of the papers back.

"The contents of said letter are as follows: Esteemed General, King Johannes Libra Hyrule has requested your aid on the southwestern area of defense as the Gerudo army is advancing at an alarming rate. Signed, Lady Impa, counselor of the Sheikah. Lady Impa if you would please."

The white-haired lady in armor reappeared without the child and took the paper from the King's outstretched hand.

"Is that your signature?"

The woman's voice was soft like a caretaker's but rough like a soldier's, a woman's voice with battle scars, "Although a clever forgery, it is not. This letter is a fake."

"Thank you Impa." The sheikah bowed to the King after handing back the letter, bowed to the Queen, then walked through the door she had come through. Igos' sweat was becoming hard to control as his case fell apart right in front of him.

"Even if you had no idea that this was a forgery General, there was no way you could've mistaken it for anything more than a trick. All generals are addressed by their first names in all formal decrees, and even if that detail was overlooked there is no mistaking that this signature is forged." The Kings voice got louder with each point made against Igos and he sat closer and closer to the edge of his seat, the crowd was getting more talkative as well, "Seeing that the Gerudo have little idea as to the names of my counsel I have no other explanation as to why this letter even exists except that you made it yourself in an attempt to cover your own tracks. Is this true General Igos?"

The King's eyes burned with contempt and Igos, realizing his final defeat simply stared at the ground.

"Then what's to say you did not leave to give the kingdom to the Gerudo?"

"What?" Igos looked up in bewilderment.

"What's to say that you didn't want the Gerudo to claim Hyrule?"

"That is supposition, can't just-" but the crowd was now in a frenzy now standing and yelling at the general whose voice was lost in the cacophonous roar of condemnation that surged from the people all around him.

"What's to say that Ganondorf didn't take your allegiance and promised you gifts if you were to aid in his invasion!"

"No!" Igos tried to deny the King's advances but the hatred thrown at him was too much and he was forced to hold his head in his hands to fend off the incessant bludgeoning of accusations.

"SILENCE!" The King's voice echoed throughout the hall and the crowd instantly obeyed by going quiet and sitting back down in their seats.

"Igos Ikana you have been tried for three crimes and the congregation will now pass your judgement."

The King and Queen stood after the King placed the papers he was holding on a table next to him and the people in the courtroom did the same, standing and facing towards the aisle that split them.

"For the crime of abandonment."

"Guilty." The crowd roared in response.

"For the crime of desertion."

"Guilty."

"For the crime of treason."

"Guilty."

"General Igos Ikana, you have been found guilty of high treason against the royal crown of Hyrule. You are sentenced… to death."

"DEATH!?" Igos went wide eyed with fear and as pale as a skeleton, "You cannot sentence me to death!" The guards began to guide Igos away but he pulled against them slowing the four men considerably but still losing ground towards the grand doors, "Johannes don't do this! We had a deal!" but the King kept a stern face and Igos' words were lost to the roar of the crowd once again, "You can't do this!"

The guards had finally been able to force the huge man through the doors all the while cursing the King and his family name.


	2. Chapter 2

Legacy of a Deserter

The Rise and Fall of King Igos du Ikana

Chapter 2: Escape

Hyrule field used to be the brightest shade of green Igos had ever known. Its radiance was more wondrous than the daytime sky and more dazzling than the stars at night. In his youth he would run through the grass and sit under the trees. He'd take off his shoes and let the soft emerald blades run through his toes and tickle his feet. Igos would never see that shade of green ever again. The fields were now darker and no longer that youthful shade. The emerald hew had been tainted by the blood spilt upon it. Blood of both Hylian and Gerudo. That crimson poison had sunk into the ground and the grass drank of it. Died of it.

Igos mourned the color of the grass as he was escorted by five guards. Four of the guards held bright red poles attached to a tight metal collar around Igos' neck. They wore the standard issue royal guardsmen outfit but elected to be without their helmets. The last guard was lieutenant Lor who had volunteered for the position. Lor was a survivor of the eastern front of the war. Without Igos' western defensive to hold off the Gerudo, it was only a matter of time before the east was overrun with the overflow of enemies. Lor, understandably, blamed Igos for the fall of the defensive and, thus, the war. He was mounted up on an armored horse and carried a long spear at his side as he led the group.

They were only ten paces north from the castle gates and Igos already felt the urge to break away. He looked around but only saw the stony faces of the guards around him. Igos started to panic when they reached Lon-Lon ranch and continued eastward.

"Lieutenant." Igos tried to get Lor's attention yet he continued to ride his horse.

"Lieutenant!" Igos tried louder but the man continued to ignore him.

"For goddesses' sake, _Lor!_ "

"Quiet!" one of the guards yelled back and jolted their pole up. Igos' collar jammed itself into his jaw and he staggered to one side. The sudden disciplinary action caused the other guards to stagger but they quickly recovered and added to the discomfort.

"Let him speak." the lieutenant said after a long pause. The guards then relaxed as they stood Igos up again and continued their walk.

"Where are you taking me?" Igos questioned as he rubbed his jaw with shackled hands.

"We are taking you to your death. Your execution."

"Yes, I know that, I was at the trial. But if you haven't noticed this isn't the town square and you're not the executioner. So I ask again, _where_ are you taking me?"

"Executions are no longer done in town, it is a recent decree. Since King Johannes has been in power, executions are carried out in Kakariko." Lor hesitated, "You will be executed by the creature of the tomb."

Igos' eyes went wide and he stopped moving.

"You can't be serious. You… you can't… you wouldn't give me to that evil creature!"

Lor turned his horse around to face the large man struggling, and succeeding in keeping the four guards from guiding him closer to the mountain village.

"You have been found guilty of desertion and treason, Igos. History will remember you as the most evil person to prostrate themselves before the throne. I think your punishment is much too lenient but the king has chosen your fate. You are to be executed by the demon of Kakariko, Bongo-Bongo!"

"No! Please!" Igos screamed as he fell to his knees.

Lor hopped off his horse but kept his distance from Igos, "It is what you deserve after abandoning your men, leaving them to die."

"Please Lor! I know you and Tai were close but you can't blame me for his death!"

Lor's face, at the mention of Tai, went dark and his eyes burned around the image of the kneeling Igos. He threw down his spear, it landing just out of Igos' reach, and placed a hand on his sword at his side. Tai was part of the north-eastern front of the defensive and the second front to retreat after Lor's western line had. The Gerudo who would've been fighting Igos' men supported the rest of their attacking groups and quickly overwhelmed the defenders. Tai was not among the survivors.

"Don't you dare say his name." Lor growled.

"It wasn't my fault!" Igos began struggling with the guards to keep them from talking sense into their lieutenant, "You weren't there, you don't know the skill and precision we were up against!"

"Don't try to justify your cowardice!" Igos noticed Lor's knuckles turning white as he gripped his sword tighter.

"It wasn't my cowardice that killed Tai, it was the Gerudo!"

"If you had kept the eastern front he'd still be alive!"

"He didn't have the skill to take on a Gerudo. Even if I did he'd still be a casualty!"

Lor unsheathed his sword, "Shut your mouth or you'll wish we brought you to Kakariko!"

"I wish Tai was a better soldier! Maybe then he wouldn't have died!"

Lor let loose an earth-shattering war cry as he launched into a full spring towards Igos with his sword held above his head with both hands.

"Lieutenant, NO!" a guard called out but it was too late. Lor brought his sword down with all his might and Igos brought a hand up to deflect the blow. Lor's sword slammed into Igos' shackle right onto the locking mechanism, the steel gouging a deep fissure at a crucial point. The impact emitted a shower of sparks and made the lieutenant recoil from the blunt hit. Before he could ready another attack, Igos thrust his hands apart and the lock on his right shackle fell apart. The hinge opened and Igos freed his shattered right wrist.

Giving him little time to revel in his little victory, Lor came at Igos with another swing of his sword. This time Igos deflected it with the chain of his shackles and got close enough to kick the lieutenant away. Then Igos' collar began to sporadically toss him in several directions. Igos had had enough of this control they had on him, so he grabbed two poles out of their hands and swung them around making three of the guards jump back. The fourth guard ducked and rushed Igos with a dagger. The prisoner grabbed the blade and back-handed the guard holding it while ripping it from his grasp.

Igos wasted no time in bringing the dagger up to his own neck. He stuck the blade into a keyhole in the collar and began working the blade around trying to find the release pin. The rushing adrenaline coupled with the guards rushing back at him made this an extremely difficult task. Then the guards picked up their poles again and the collar resumed its random thrashing. A quick jerk to the right caused Igos' hand to slip and he gouged a small but deep cut into his thumb. The wound didn't even have time to bleed before Igos went back to picking the lock. Lor, with a large muddy shoeprint smudging his polished steel chest piece, had finally caught his breath and walked towards Igos dragging his sword on the ground menacingly. The fourth guard had also rejoined the fray, adding to the effort to keep Igos from unlocking the collars lock.

Then he felt it. For a split second there was a pressure on the blade's tip but the thrashing moved his hand before he could push it down. Igos tried frantically to get the blade back into position feeling as if he was digging into his own flesh. Lor stood up straight and brought his sword up to his shoulder.

"General Igos Ikana! You are hereby executed in the name of the King!"

Lor swung his sword in a horizontal arc, aiming for Igos' neck. But then…

 _ **Click.**_

Lor's sword sailed through the air above the now vacant and open collar moments before Igos' muscular shoulder slammed into him at full force. The guards quickly discarded the now useless collar and surrounded Igos just as fast.

"He's broken free!" one of the guards yelled and they all drew their swords in unison. Igos held his dagger to the side and took a defensive stance, waiting for the first guard to rush him. They didn't offer him that luxury as they all attacked at once. Igos deflected one attack and dodged the other three. He quickly spun around the guard he had deflected and brought his knife to the man's throat. Igos knew this man as Davick and he remembered the man when he was a boy in the army. Igos was in charge of many young and inexperienced privates in his time as general but Davick had become the greatest negotiator he'd known. He even had recommended him for a position in foreign relations before the war. But he wasn't able to get the position before the Gerudo attacked and had since then he believed he had been stuck in the royal ranks of the guard. Igos regretted not being there for his pupil and wished he hadn't been chosen for this assignment.

Igos' dagger cut across the guard's neck and the man fell to the floor. He sputtered as he fell, his blood staining the already sullen grass. The man had barely finished dying before the other guards were upon Igos. They attacked again and again putting everything behind each swing and yet Igos bested them all. The first guard fell when the former general around and plunged his blade into the man's right temple. Igos knew him as Rizzo Fae but everyone called him Dizzy. It was his general clumsiness that added to the charm of his character. A part of Igos believed that he was faking the clumsiness, putting it on as an act for the soldiers who clearly needed the comedy. In battle, training or not, Dizzy was a master tactician with a soft spot for all his comrades. Any time he was in charge of any amount of men he may have finished the mission slower than a turtle, but he never lost a man. Dizzy just cared too much and it prevented him from ascending the ranks.

The second guard fell when Igos exploited a lesser known defect in Hylian armor. In the back where the front and back chest piece meet near the kidneys, there is a small gap just large enough for a small blade to enter. It wounded him and allowed Igos to finish by separating his spine at the base of the skull. To the army, Chrom Sion was a front line soldier and a perfect candidate for the first battalion. To Igos, he was a fool. Chrom was much like Dizzy where he cared about his fellow soldiers far too much. But where Dizzy would lead them from harm, Chrom would put himself between the blade and a friend. Chrom never viewed his life as valuable and was vocal about it as well. His friends and comrades tried to talk him out of this depressed state but Chrom didn't listen. He wasn't depressed in his mind, just insignificant. Igos at one point confronted the man but no matter what Igos said, Chrom was adamant that his life didn't matter and it was better used in the protection of others. Chrom's life was tough but he didn't deserve that.

As the dead guard fell to the ground, the final guard came rushing behind Igos ready to attack. Igos spun around and threw his dagger with all his might. There was a soft thump and the guard fell to the ground with Igos' dagger embedded into his forehead right above the break in his eyebrows. This man's name was Milton Banner and he was an expert archer. Of course the man was proficient in some way with a sword but his accuracy with a bow was unmatched. He was also very proud of himself to a fault. Every day Milton would have another story about how he had saved the royal family, hunted a fearsome beast with one arrow, or even prevented the destruction of Hyrule by simply yelling. His stories were never taken seriously but the men appreciated his imagination as they made great stories that kept morale from dying with their spirits. In a way, Milton knew this but he still told his stories. His philosophy was, "If they don't remember me for splitting an arrow at 500 feet, they'll remember me for my lying mouth." Igos loved his fanciful stories and missed them when he left the army.

Igos stood up straight amongst the guards' bodies. Flashbacks of the barracks and the war forced him to close his eyes and try to rid himself of the intruding thoughts.

"I'm sorry my brothers," he silently spoke, as if in prayer, "I had no choice. My actions are-"

Igos was cut off by the sound of roaring hoofs behind him and he quickly dove to the left. Lor's horse and blade narrowly missed Igos by inches. Though Igos stopped and turned to face Lor, the lieutenant spurred his horse onward towards Hyrule castle. The former general panicked and looked around frantically for a throwable weapon. He spotted Lor's spear and rushed to pick it up. He hefted it in his left hand and took aim at the fleeing lieutenant. After taking speed and angle into consideration, he aimed it up and, with every ounce of strength he had left, threw the spear into a wide arc. The spear was thrown at such a high speed that it pierced the lieutenant's armor just below the right shoulder blade causing him to slump in his saddle.

But the horse kept running.

In fact, it seemed to be running straight for Hyrule's gate despite its rider being gravelly wounded.

"Damn!" Igos cursed the spear that hadn't gone through the man and into the horse. He couldn't do anything now so he turned in the opposite direction and ran.

Igos weighed his options on places to go. He was a fugitive now and had no desire to be captured again. Igos ran straight past the mountain pass to Kakariko, as only execution waited there. No doubt the royal family's lap-dog Impa was there waiting for his arrival. He would be able to fool the Gorons on the mountain but Darunia had a pact with the king and would give Igos away in a heartbeat. Lake Hylia was an option as he was sure the old scientist there would serve as a useful cover but it was much too far away and the guard would be upon him before he even saw its shores. The Zoras were useless as no Zora could keep a secret. Their loose lips were the bane of the army during the war and would undoubtedly be his undoing as well. Finally, the desert was not even an option as the Gerudo would never allow him to live. After losing the war against the crown, he was sure that Hylians were _not_ welcomed on their sands. So there was really only one option left.

As Igos ran past the river that came from the Zoras' waterfall, horns blared from the castle and galloping horses echoed from behind him. This only spurred him on faster towards a break in the trees and brush that separated the lost woods from Hyrule field. Igos dived in and ran straight through a tunnel made into a hollowed-out log, the noises of the hunt for him growing distant.


	3. Chapter 3

Legacy of a Deserter

The Rise and Fall of King Igos du Ikana

Chapter 3: Lost

The woods were dark and what wasn't obscured by shadow was overrun with green. Igos payed this no mind as all he needed to see were the brown tree trunks he was dodging as he continued to run. As Igos ran deeper and deeper into the woods, the horns from the castle faded until he was alone with the sounds of the forest and his own labored heaving. Igos paced himself and slowed to a walk to catch his breath. He stopped at a nearby tree and gathered his surroundings.

Nobody had ever told Igos about the beauty of the forest, mostly because nobody had ever ventured in and had come back to tell the tale. The underbrush of fallen leaves and twigs was calming to walk upon and the mushrooms that thrived in the moist darkness added spots of color that added a tranquil chaos to the monotony. Igos was first amazed at the beauty of the woods but soon stopped his fanciful thoughts to focus on gaging his direction so he could find a way out when enough time had passed. Igos surmised that the hunt for him would probably be over in about three days, as Hyrule wasn't that big of a place, and by then he would be able to live the rest of his life on the shores of Lake Hylia.

Unfortunately the forest seemed to be exactly the same in every direction. No matter which way Igos turned, the woods seemed to be an endless stretch of the same hundred-or-so trees in each bearing. Looking up didn't alleviate the situation as the canopy of the combined trees blocked almost all of the sky from view. Without an accurate way to gauge his heading, Igos decided to just start walking in one direction and, through sheer perseverance, he would eventually end up exiting at the other side of the forest, wherever that may be. Either that or he would eventually come across a clearing or land mark that would point him towards the way he came. Igos took up the broken shackle that was still attached to his left hand and began aggressively gouging a deep line into the bark of a tree followed by two more coming to a point. The arrow pointed to Igos' left.

Igos then set off to the left of the tree counting the trunks he passed by. When he had counted to thirty trees, which wasn't too long given the overabundance of them, Igos stopped and etched another arrow pointing left. The etching process was difficult because Igos was dominant on his right hand but it threw searing pain if he dared to move it. The broken right wrist he sustained after his escape was starting to discolor and swell where the shackle had been, more so where it had been hit. He was sure something had broken but wasn't attentive to it when he was running on adrenaline. Now the fight-or-flight response had faded and he not only felt the exhaustion he had been lacking but now the wound he had sustained was also slowly growing more aggressively painful.

Another thirty trees and another arrow was etched. Igos realized that he had never really tended to the deep gash on his left thumb and just now noticed the dirty newly formed scab that was cracking with his repeated use of that hand. It was no longer overflowing with blood but every movement cracked the dirty red scab and new blood trickled out. In fact, Igos' left arm had a thick dried blood trail that ran from his thumb all the way to his elbow. Igos wished he had some water to wash the grim sight off his body and not having that luxury only made the throbbing in his thumb all the worse to endure.

Yet another thirty trees and yet another arrow was etched facing left. He was actually getting quite good at using his left hand now that it was too painful to move his right. However, the shackle on his left wrist was starting to take its toll, leaving an itchy rash where it continually rubbed. The guards had purposefully tightened them too tight as they wanted Igos' last moments in this world to be filled with discomfort and misery. Though it seemed he had put himself through that anyway by going into the woods. The air was starting to get thicker and heavier with moisture. The humidity had skyrocketed in the last few moments and Igos' sweat was no longer evaporating off his skin and clothes. He wiped his brow and winced as some of the salty perspiration singed his thumb wound. If the humidity climbed any higher then he feared he would drown while breathing air.

Igos finished counting trees to another thirty and…

An arrow stared back at Igos.

"Dammit." Igos swore as he sighed and looked around for another one of his arrows. He started walking in the opposite direction and when he reached thirty trees again he did come to one of his old arrows but, confusedly, it was facing right instead of left. Igos furrowed his brow and started to point in different directions muttering to himself trying to figure out if there actually was a way to come to an arrow that was facing left to then face right. But no matter how many different scenarios Igos came up with to rationalize it, the idea that one of his arrows had flipped around was impossible… unless someone was following him and putting up different arrows to confuse him. Though Igos found this improbable at best, he still scratched out the arrow that was there and etched a new arrow under it facing the correct way.

Then there was a rustle somewhere in the woods that made Igos jump. His eyes widened and he listened for more sounds. Save for the quiet rustle of leaves in the wind, the forest was silent again for a long time. As soon as Igos relaxed a bit, a sharp chuckle from somewhere within the trees assaulted the man's ears and a sharp pain hit his right shoulder. He reached around with his left hand and pulled from his muscle a small yet sizeable sharpened wooden dart caked with a large amount of blood. Igos wasted no time in bolting in the direction of his newly etched arrow and kept running. Arrow after arrow on trees flew past him and he could hear more projectiles hitting the scenery around him. Or at least he believed that they were projectiles. Igos was kicking up so much underbrush in his full sprint that the twigs and pebbles bouncing off things only fueled his idea that he was being followed.

He had definitely seen more than the four arrows he etched so his being followed hypothesis seemed correct. The one with the piercing laugh must be the one trying to confuse him. Maybe trying to capture him. At this idea Igos immediately wanted to stop. However, a large branch that had probably fallen off a tree saw to it that Igos' foot got caught in it. He stepped on it with one foot and when the other came forward to take the next step, it got stuck. Without anything to catch his forward momentum, Igos flew through the air a considerable distance before crashing into the soft earth. The years of undisturbed leaves and twigs cushioned his side a bit and bunched up to limit his skid to a halt. By the end of his fall, Igos had created an impressive crater in the soil. Igos quickly stood and took off again in the same direction as before, paying no mind to the new aching in his other shoulder.

A bit more running and Igos suddenly stopped, pure confusion plastered on his face. He stared, mouth agape, at the scarred ground before him. It was crater like one made on impact and it had very familiar dimensions. The tree he stood next to had an arrow pointing in its direction. But this only added to Igos' confusion.

"Wait…" Igos thought aloud, "could it be?"

Igos cautiously walked around the left side of the tree. A quarter of the way around its trunk Igos found another arrow carved into the tree pointing in the same direction.

"No…" Igos breathed as he continued around the trunk. Half-way around the tree now and Igos stared at another etched arrow in utter disbelief.

"This is… i-impossible. There's no way. There's no damn way!" but as Igos turned to the final section of the tree, a familiar scratched-out right facing arrow greeted him along with its left facing counterpart below it. Igos took a step back.

"I don't understand. I just don't get it! How… I thought I was going the right way but…" Igos gasped, "that's it. I'm going the wrong way! It tried to tell me but… I have to go the right way!"

Igos immediately turned to the right and ran off in that direction. He started counting at first and rapidly reached thirty trees. There was no arrow etched on any of the trees near that number. Fourty trees and still no arrow whizzed past. Fifty trees and Igos began to feel hopeful for an exit. Fifty-seven trees and the man was starting to feel winded and began to slow. Sixty-three trees… or was it sixty-seven? Igos was getting so exhausted that keeping track of the trees was getting harder and harder. His prisoners' shirt was drenched in sweat and clinging to his skin. It wasn't long until he was heaving and desperate for water.

Then the sound of a rushing stream softly whispered to him from his left.

"Oh thank the Goddess." Igos gasped as he briskly walked in the sounds direction. The noise continued to grow louder until the prospect of fresh water overpowered his weariness and he began running again, pushing himself with the promise of fresh water. Then, just as he was about to stop again, Igos came upon the stream that was making the beautiful noise that guided him. Breathing a sigh of relief, he ran to the stream and cupped the crystal clear liquid in his hands. The water was so clear that if the light didn't reflect off it, he might as well had been holding air. When he drank it life came back to his throat and breathing became many times easier. Despite the hot and humid air around him, the water was briskly cold and had the most amazing taste. By around the third mouthful Igos no longer felt any tiredness, as if he had just woken from a deep slumber.

He then bathed in the icy water, washing the sweat from his skin and clothes. As he rubbed himself down, Igos suddenly noticed that his right hand, though moving all about, wasn't hurting at all. When he looked at the wrist the swelling had already started to recede and its discolored bruising washed away as if it were dried on ink. Then Igos turned to his thumb and it too had completely healed. Where a scab was and a thick scar should've been was just his normal fingerprint unmarred by any wound. The pain in his shoulders, one from falling and the other from that creature's dart, was alleviated and their strength rejuvenated. Even his feet, tired from all his walking and running, felt as if they could run another hundred miles.

After washing his clothes, Igos tried to wring the fabric out as much as possible but no matter how much he twisted and whipped the fabric, it was still damp and clung to his skin all the same. However it wasn't as bad as before as the water seemed to be perpetually cold and protecting his skin from the hot forest air. His hair had also absorbed some of the water and cooled his head in perpetual refreshment. It was so revitalizing that Igos feared collapsing from such bliss.

Suddenly, Igos was struck with a revelation. Hyrule only had two sources of water, Lake Hylia and Zora's Domain. This stream, if the woods followed the same rules as the rest of the world, must come from one of those sources. Igos surmised that if he did follow the river upstream then he would either find himself at an unknown branch off the Zora River or at a secret exit to Lake Hylia. So, taking the last drink of water, Igos took a refreshed sigh and headed off upstream following just outside its bank.

The stream's soft yet torrential noise created a soothing atmosphere that Igos slowly lost himself to. Soon his feet began to drive themselves and he was even able to close his eyes, letting his mind go blank. The noise of the stream enveloped him as if he were swimming in the sound. The small differences and breaks in the water's flow al adding to the serene chorus that soothed Igos' very soul. He couldn't even hear the twigs he crushed underneath his shoes and even his breath had become overpowered by the stream's melody.

Igos was in such a serene state that he hadn't even realized that the stream's background noise had completely vanished. It wasn't long until he realized that something was amiss and when he opened his eyes and looked around, the stream was nowhere in sight. Igos' groan of frustration echoed back at him as if the forest was just as fed up with his presence as he was of its trickery. Igos couldn't hear the stream from where he was. He figured he had wandered away from a place where it turned in a different direction. So, even though he was annoyed, Igos turned around and began to walk back the way he came.

It wasn't long until he found the stream again but this time it was different. When he first came upon the stream the water flowed from his right to his left. Now the water rushed from his left to his right. So either the magic of the forest had flipped the entire stream around or somehow Igos had gotten so lost that he actually came to the other side of the stream he was supposed to be following. However, at this point Igos no longer cared about that. He only cared about getting out of this demon's playground that the Hylians called a forest. So, gathering an even larger amount of determination to leave, he followed the stream again but this time heading downstream. For all he knew, this stream actually supplied the waterfalls that covered Zora's Domain.

As Igos walked with the stream he kept his eyes on the running water like a hungry dog watching a meal. Tearing his eyes away only to avoid tripping, Igos tried his best to focus on following the stream and resist its calming sounds. To counteract the relaxing scenery, Igos walked with a brisk pace with very long strides. He also tried to walk on the right side of each tree to minimalize the amount of time he spent not looking at the stream. It was a foolproof plan that could only end in some kind of success.

Igos had made it about an hour, or what felt like an hour, before he accidentally let a single tree block his view of the water. When he arrived at the other side of the tree, the stream had disappeared again. It didn't leave a single sign that it used to be there and even the waters' noise vanished without even an echo.

"No! Why!?" Igos yelled at the forest's trees who only repeated his inquiry almost mockingly. He looked around the tree over and over again in a futile attempt to make the guiding stream reappear. Going back and forth made him look like a giant ape playing hide-and-seek with himself. When he finally realized that his attempts were doing excessive amounts of nothing, Igos got angry. It didn't take long until the man was reduced to a raging, cursing, and yelling maelstrom of random chaos. He kicked and thrashed at shrubs, rocks, and branches scattering debris in every direction. He even went so far as to pick up a rock and repeatedly hit the tree he had passed.

He had made it through most of the bark before his frustration doubled over and realized how juvenile his actions were. He threw away the rock and took a deep breath laden with annoyance and frustration. He tried to listen for the stream again but the angry thumping in his ears blocked even his thoughts from making complete sense; his heart and blood the ironic barrier to his own survival.

But it wasn't a sound that got Igos' hopes up again, it was a breeze. A breeze so light it was more akin to a draft within a house. It softly grazed the back of Igos' neck then dashed away like a rabbit sensing danger. Igos recognized the touch of that air. It was the breath of Hyrule calling to him. Igos slowly and carefully scanned his surroundings looking for any outlying differences in the forest. When he finally looked behind him he could only chuckle to himself in the most intense relief he had ever felt.

Before him was a giant tree trunk on its side and hollowed out to make a tunnel. Igos nearly fell in his mad scramble towards the exit to this crazy place. There was a part of Igos that was weary of the supposed exit and wanted to steer clear of it as one of the forest's tricks. But that voice was massively overpowered by Igos' desire to follow anything that might lead to an exit. He ran so fast he nearly collided with every tree and his legs were caked with mud and dirt from how much debris he kicked up. Igos didn't care that the tunnel had no light at the end of it and he was too delusional to notice that the air coming from it was much too cold to be from Hyrule.

The first thing that Igos did when he stepped into the cave was slip. The floor, overgrown with mushrooms and moss, was slick and didn't favor Igos' running. As a result, Igos fell and his forward momentum carried him into the tunnel. He first hit a lip of some kind made out of stone and then felt his lower body fall over the edge of a hole. His hands scrambled for something to grab and thankfully found the lip that his leg had hit. He hung on for dear life as his body hung in the air against a rocky wall. His feet scrambled on the wall and found a slightly protruding rock that had just enough room for Igos to steady himself with one foot.

"Help!" Igos cried when he had finally gotten his grip.

But he immediately berated himself out loud, "Stupid!" he hit his head on the stone wall, "This is the Lost Woods. Nobody's going to hear you!"

"Now, I wouldn't be so sure about that." a high-pitched voice spoke from above Igos. The misplaced jovial statement was followed by an equally unsettling laugh that sent chills down Igos' spine. He slowly looked up and was met with the silhouette of a child wearing a frayed large-brimmed hat. The figure had bright yellow glowing eyes that bored into Igos' own.

"Who… who are you?"

The figure chuckled, "You come into my forest and ask who I am?" it laughed, "Hylians really have no concept of boarders, do they?"

"Please, whoever you are, help me!"

"Hmm… I—dunno…" the figure crossed its arms and looked pensively up at the ceiling.

"Please. I just want to get out of these damned accursed woods!"

Something about what Igos said disagreed with the child-like figure and they slowly looked back at Igos.

"Oh, don't worry," the child said in a much more menacing voice, "You'll be leaving soon enough." The silhouette knelt at Igos' hands that grasped the lip just a forearms length away from the edge of the hole. "But first we're going to play a game."

"What? No, please, just go get help or someth-"

"Adults never want to play nice." the figure cut Igos off, "But this game will help you, don't worry!"

Igos could feel the child smile at him even though its face was obscured in shadow. Before Igos could voice another plea, the child reached for his hand. He could feel the gloved fingers and noted that they felt strangely lifeless, even encased in rough linen gloves. The figure then popped Igos' pinky finger off the lip.

"Hey!" Igos yelled, wide-eyed, "No, no, no, no!"

"This little kokiri went to market." The child jovially chanted in a sing-song manner.

"No, please!" Igos continued to shout as the silhouette popped the second finger off his grasping place.

"But this little kokiri stayed home!"

"Please! I'll do anything!" Igos tried to yell above the child's rising singing.

"This little kokiri had mushrooms."

Just as Igos was about to replace his other fingers onto the lip again, the third finger was pried off. His left hand's index finger was not strong enough to hold his weight and the entire hand slipped off the lip by itself.

"And that little kokiri had none." The child cackled again.

"Dammit, _please!_ "

The figure turned to Igos' remaining hand. He tried to pull his newly free hand up to grab the lip but it was just too far up past the edge of the hole and the ledge was too slippery to get a confident grip.

"And this little kokiri…"

"For goddess' sake, I beg you!" Igos slipped into hysteria as he pleaded to the cold emotionless eyes.

"…cried 'Please, please, please!'…"

"No!" the creature tightened its grip around Igos' remaining hand. He tried to lift himself up to grab at the silhouette but lost his footing before he could get even remotely high enough.

"…all the way…" Igos looked up when the thing paused. It had brought its face as close to Igos without being within reach. He stared horrified at the burning yellow eyes and could hear its sadistic giggles.

The creature whispered, "All the way… _TO HELL!_ "

"No!" the child threw its hands up and dislodged Igos' death-grip on the lip. Igos tried to scramble for another grip but a small foot in a curved and pointed shoe came around and smacked Igos right across the face. As he fell, all he could see was the two menacing eyes fade into darkness along with the creature's insidious laughter.


End file.
